SARASOTA, Fla. — More details about what the situation was like for Sarasota residents impacted by Hurricane Debby are being revealed. This time the insight is coming from the 911 calls that went to emergency dispatchers
10 Tampa Bay obtained dozens of the 911 calls which showed how much the storm impacted locals in real-time and how it caused resources to be unduly stretched.
"I'm stuck in the water on Bahia Vista and can't get out," one caller said.
"I'm wheelchair bound, and my son and I, he tried to get the car out, but it died in the street so we have no way to get out of here," another caller said.
Streams of calls from several panicked callers, one after another, inundated the phone lines at the dispatch center as the weather situation took a turn for the worse despite the eye of the storm being in the Big Bend area.
Some of the calls came from people who were stuck in their cars trapped by rising water all around them. In some cases, the water had moved some of the vehicles.
One elderly woman whose daughter was taking her to a doctor's clinic for surgery was faced with physically challenging instructions from the dispatcher to get to safety.
"We are on the phone with 911 and they want us to climb out," called out the woman's daughter to some people across the way in a parking lot.
"I can't climb out of the window. I'm 80 years old. I can't climb out," the elderly woman added.
Another caller, a medical doctor on the way to the hospital to conduct some surgeries also found himself stuck near Bee Ridge Road.
Some other callers who thought they were safe from the storm at home were either trapped or chased out by flood waters that overran their homes.
"I can't leave the house but I feel like I'm trapped and I feel like I need to get out of here soon because it's going to get worse," another woman said.
First responders fielded more than 900 calls at the height of the storm on Aug. 5. Hundreds of those calls came from around the Pinecraft area, Downtown Sarasota and parts of Lakewood Ranch. Officials said they were adequately prepared but that the turn of events which brought nearly 16 inches of rain within a short period was unpredictable.
"Our fire department side, from Sunday evening through Monday, they ran over 590 calls during that time frame and support of citizens in need. That's about a 220% increase over their normal daily volume. So their normal daily volume is around 180 calls in a 24 hour so obviously it was quite dramatic," Rich Collins, director of Sarasota County's Emergency Management Services, said.
Emergency management leaders said they called in more than 200 additional support including resources from other municipalities like North Port and Fort Myers.
While Collins said their operation was as efficient as it could be under the circumstances, they're currently reviewing what they could've done differently.
"We're looking at all of our operations internally for what we're doing," Collins said.
"What happens if we see rain? Where would we potentially open up a hurricane evacuation center?" he said. "That's going to depend on where the flooding is."
Collins also provided answers about why although emergency status was activated, sandbag stations were not made available initially.
"6- 8 inches and sandbags would not make a difference with over 17 inches over a localized area. It would not have stopped, at that time in that area, the flooding that occurred," Collins explained.
Officials also reminded citizens to stay alert during extreme weather.
"Don't drive through deep water," Collins said. "You don't know how fast the water is moving. It could carry the car away. You can get caught in the middle of it. Turn around don't drown."
Emergency management leaders say the county is still in response mode and is still working with local municipalities, FEMA and non profits to plan for future extreme weather situations and also continue assisting residents toward long-term recovery.